Why July was awesome

July was awesome because...

...my kids are awesome.  Elizabeth and Michael happily, cheerfully, willingly posed for a picture together.  I am so proud to be their mom.

...Michael attended basketball camp.  The mom who picked him up texted "I thought we might need to rent a U-Haul to bring home all of Michael's awards."  At the end of the four-day camp, he received the Best Shooter, Free Throw Champ, and Hot Shot Champ awards.  The only award he didn't win went to a senior (Michael is a freshman.)  Incredible.  We were particularly impressed because he was an overnight camper, rooming with his friend Josh, and they got very little sleep!

...Angie and Rosemary visited, partly because they wanted to be passengers in Elizabeth's car.  Elizabeth was more than willing to oblige.  There is no errand too long or too far away for her to drive you.  Always the happy chauffeur!

...my husband is the most remarkable source of support a person could have.
And I continue to receive good health news.  Mary's recent visited coincided with a surgical follow up.  She was impressed with Dr. Folksy.  The rest of her visit was spent laughing, walking (in 90 degree weather each day), and laughing some more.  It never fails that even when we play Boggle, burn fajitas, or discuss Lane Center researchers, hysterical laughter is involved.
 
...Michael had a fabulous time with his friend Gabe completing the underground ropes and other challenges  featured at Louisville's MEGA Quest Caves and Caverns.  Although this his first time there,  Gabe's mom texted me this picture, which she captioned "wow, he's a pro!!!"

...Elizabeth continues to discover who she is, what she likes, what she believes in, what she thinks is worth fighting for (she still feels the Berne).  I am always astounded how she seems so comfortable in her own skin, astounded in part because that took me decades to figure out for myself.  I took this photo of her without her knowledge; I love it because it personifies her personality: carefree, happy, and  put together.  Also, the photo reminded me of previous Benetton ads!  She is especially excited about her AP English class this fall.

...Tiffany, Sam, Elise, and Parker visited!  The pouring rain did not dampen our time together - Nerf bullets, barking dogs, red raspberry yogurt, wii Mario Kart, and a Hercules 300 piece jigsaw puzzle completed by all our smart kids in Herculean time!  It is always soo wonderful when the cousins are together and to catch up with Tiffany!!! We can hardly wait to be with them at the beach in 1.5 weeks!!!
...the Democratic National Convention ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We're with her!  (Well, Elizabeth almost is; the rest of us have been right beside her for years.)

Michael

Michael graduated from 8th grade.  He has always been diligent and conscientious with his studies, which showed as he was one of a handful of students recognized for attaining a 4.0 across all three years of middle school.  Now both our children are in high school!

The week after graduation, Michael celebrated his birthday.  He is 15, 6 feet tall, and sports  a size 14 shoe.  He plays for the 9th grade Scott County High School team, which practices and competes during the summer.  They were attending team camp the week of Michael's birthday, but he came home in between games on his birthday to briefly celebrate.

Michael's team continues the powerhouse tradition of Scott County high school basketball by winning a recent tournament.  Michael's select team placed 2nd in a recent tournament.  If you ever want to watch Michael score and score and score, I have 8349346 videos you can watch.  You will be in awe!










Michael went to Florida as a graduation gift.  The gift was mostly from his friend Daniel, who invited him to spend a week with his family in Panama City.  They played basketball at 2 a.m., did some swimming, digging (reminiscent of Stuart Seely Sprague and Cave Run Lake), and eating out.  They remained in close contact with all their female friends through their phones, by turning their backs on the beautiful blue ocean while on a boat!

Michael came back 8 days later, tan, relaxed, and rested.  We missed him but were so excited for him as this is the furthest he has traveled without us.  He had several funny stories to tell, and I bet he really loved not having to turn in his phone to his parents every night.

Michael makes us laugh with his humor, appreciative of his work ethic with his school work, shake our heads in wonder as we watch him continue to improve as a basketball player.  We are always proud.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth entertained all of us during her spring piano recital.  She plays the piano beautifully, with such feeling.  We have gotten so much joy from listening to her practice and perform.  For a while, Elizabeth would mention that when she played the assigned songs on her teacher's piano, they sounded nothing like the exact same songs played at our home, that it was as if she were playing two different songs.  Not a subtle hint, Elizabeth, but yes, we did get our piano tuned! And we admit, the songs sound significantly better.

What Elizabeth finds beautiful and for which she has great feeling is driving!  She has been an amazing chauffeur the past six weeks.  I stay in the car and tell her exactly what to do.  And she does it: Every parent's dream, a teenager who listens!  She happily goes to the bank, to the library, to random stores, to Dollar Tree (my favorite!), to my office, and here you see her at the RedBox machine (where she received unsolicited help from a random man; fear not, unbeknownst to him, I was carefully watching).

When Elizabeth is not driving, she is hanging out with her friends ... through social media.

She and I learned how to darken her hair a little bit, nothing blatant.  I was shocked she trusted me enough to help her with it but quickly realized it was only because it was a wash-out rinse, so I couldn't really permanently mess it up.

Elizabeth took the ACT as a sophomore to determine her math placement for fall.  She stunned us with her high scores - not that we didn't think she would do well, but yikes!  We wanted her to know how much we appreciate how hard she works and how much effort she puts into her academics.  We could have told her that or taken her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant.  But instead, decided to buy her a car.  It's a 2009 Honda Civic with her most important car requirement - wait for it - an aux cord plug-in.  Huh?  Yes, you read that correctly.  She and Steven spent last weekend cleaning it, then Steven waxed it.  It is such a cool-looking car.  If you haven't already, watch the video below, during which Elizabeth opens her Chinese food bag, discovers a car key, and realizes that meant we bought her a car.  It was hiding in the garage.  Today when she drove me to the library, she warned me not to spill even one drop of my drink!

I have so sincerely appreciated spending so much time with Elizabeth this summer as I recover from surgery.  She is so loving and generous and uplifting and interesting. 

Steven, Karyn, Zoe, Niki, and New Dog

I had foot surgery at the end of May.  The surgeon sternly told me that if I couldn't commit to three
months of recovery, I should not have the surgery at this time.  Steven has been the most attentive, loving caregiver ever, in the history of the world.

I am now getting out of the house with the use of crutches.  I have lunch with friends several times a week (I saw Lynne Quisenberry Hobstetter and her younger daughter yesterday, for example) and have a scary tall stacks of books to read.  Although I would have told you I am 0% interested in doing very little each day and not exercising for many weeks, it turns out that relaxing is actually quite nice.  Who knew?  Certainly not I!

Elizabeth and I celebrated Father's Day with Steven, as Michael was in Florida.  We saw the movie Now You See Me 2.  I love magic!  As you may know, Steven has wanted a third dog for some time.  One of his co-workers is moving to coyote territory and unable to keep her 5-year-old Maltese.  I was 0% interested in having a third dog, but if you read Paragraph 1 above, you know that I apparently am not always correct about what I enjoy.  That shocks me but is true.

It started with this text exchange with Steven.

After embracing my love of dogs, New Dog arrived.  My husband was ecstatic.

New Dog looks like Nikki.

And likes looking out the window like Nikki (New Dog on left, Nikki  on right).

And sleeps on our pillows, like Nikki.

And sleeps while I exercise, like both Nikki and Zoe.

We hope New Dog loves us as much as we love New Dog.

Clearly we're still considering options for New Dog's name.

Spring

Elizabeth is driving!  No need to avoid the streets; she is super careful and obeys all laws at all times.  Steven is her eager driving coach, and they venture most days around the neighborhood and the school parking lots.  To the left is the photo of her as she conducted some last-minute studying before taking her permit test; to the right is her photo after earning a 93% on the test her first try!  Happy Sweet Sixteen indeed!

On her actual birthday, as all awesome parents do, we convinced Elizabeth we had found a very special cake recipe on line for her birthday  Mashed potatoes is the primary ingredient.  While she does love mashed potatoes, she was rather unconvinced but kindly, mostly tried to hide her disdain when we brought it to her.  Soon after, we brought out her actual birthday cake, Boston crème cake.  She was much happier.

Steven is once again the Free Throw Champion for all of Production Control at Toyota.  While I am sure he wishes peace for all of you, the two fingers represent his winning 2 years in a row.  All these years after high school and college ball, he is still so amazing at basketball!  Also still an amazing painter; our downstairs walls are now gray.  Steven convinced me that according to the home shows he watches, gray is the new hot color.  It does look fabulous!

As for Michael, he worked super hard on his National History Day project; General George Washington was his selected topic.  His 9th grade high school team won another championship. 

And as his middle school career winds down, I wanted to post the blanket he was presented with after the 8th graders' last basketball game.  When he stands next to it, he almost looks short.  That is the only time he ever looks short anymore.

Finally, I gleefully submitted resignations for all three chair positions I hold.  Here is a sampling of the post-its I joyfully tossed (recycled) after our last faculty meeting of the year, during which the faculty gave me a standing ovation for all my service. 

Happy Spring indeed.

Morehead, KY

It had been a while since our last pig-out night, so we decided it was time for another, this time in Morehead, KY.  We took a self-guided tour of MSU, which involved stops inside both Breckinridge Hall and Rader Hall. 

Michael wanted a picture of himself (under the Lucille Little arch) to post to Instagram and you can see Elizabeth's efforts to prevent that from happening.

Michael also wanted to check out the MSU basketball court.  He's about 5'10" now, so the huge gym and court didn't dwarf him like it did when he was younger. 

Wal-mart was our stop for pig-out night food (the usual donuts, chips, drinks, even a Boston crème pie; don't be too worried, I think Steven did drink a wee little bit of milk at some point).  Our overnight at Comfort Inn was lovely.  The next morning we were back at MSU for a tour of ADUC; unfortunately, the bookstore was closed due to spring break, so Michael didn't get the bright yellow shirt he was eyeing, although Elizabeth found a Fuzzy Duck sweatshirt that we have seen quite a bit since our trip. 

Steven and I showed E&M where we had our wedding reception. 
Elizabeth insisted on a photograph.  Actually, I think it was I who insisted.

Steven met Terry for lunch at Pasquale's, the restaurant Steven always chose for his birthday meal while growing up; Mom and I planned to have lunch together at The Bakery but ended up at Pasquale's as well.  Mom's former chess club friend Stephen was working behind the register so I got to meet him.  The children alternated between sitting with Terry and sitting with Grandma.  Mom and I talked about Wrightsville, among other things, and now we are considering going to Blockade Runner this summer.

Michael made the 9th grade summer basketball team and has two-hour practices most days.  They participated in two tournaments so far, earning the championship in one of them.  Steven and I are trying to get used to cheering for the "red team," after the red-uniform Scott County was our greatest rival for three years of middle school!  
Elizabeth continues to amaze us with her even-keeled personality and acceptance of pretty much everyone.  She and I recently attended a lecture on campus by a Notre Dame religion professor, who wrote a book on restorative justice and prisons in America.  I tried to get her to leave after an hour because my stomach was growling and my attention was waning, but Elizabeth insisted on staying the full 1.5 hours!  I love her love for equality and justice.  For her to have learned such an important life lesson at such a young age makes us so proud.